Giants hoping 10 minutes of sleep good enough to beat Cubs

If the Giants play as well in September as they have in August, this race will be over by mid-month.

We’re ready to begin the August finale in the Friendly Confines, and the Giants are going for their 19th win of the month. They’re 18-10, the most wins they’ve had in a month since September 2010 — when they were on the road to the Promised Land.

Here’s some stuff:

** This is the first of four straight day games, capped by Monday’s matinee in San Francisco.

** The Giants have won 10 of 13 and their last six road games and are 17-5 on the road since the All-Star break, tops in the majors.

** The team landed at O’Hare after 2 a.m. As Bruce Bochy said, “By the time you get your bags (at the hotel), it’s 3:30 or 4.” In other words, no on-field batting practice today.

** Buster Posey is catching. He told Bochy on the plane and again this morning he’s good to go, though his ankle was feeling sensitive in Houston. It’s his fourth straight game behind the plate. Look for Hector Sanchez to get a start this weekend.

** The collective record for the Cubs’ three starting pitchers this series: 7-24. It’s the Houston series all over again.

** If Madison Bumgarner wins this lid-lifter, he’ll have the most wins by a Giants lefty (15) since TV star Shawn Estes in 2000.